When the sun don't shine

I had originally planned to watch today's total solar eclipse from the comfort one of Ghana's beautiful beaches,
writes Sarah Left. But in the end it seemed churlish to deny the county's less-than-captivating capital city the few minutes during which it actually had a tourist attraction.

Blackout: the total eclipse seen this morning in Accra, Ghana.Photograph: Sarah Left

I had originally planned to watch today's total solar eclipse from the comfort one of Ghana's beautiful beaches, writes Sarah Left. But in the end it seemed churlish to deny the country's less-than-captivating capital city the few minutes during which it actually had a tourist attraction. And despite some worries in traditional belief systems about bad omens, and in the popular evangelical churches about God's mysterious intentions, the sudden darkness was met with cheers and jubilation in Accra.

Newspapers, television and radio had for weeks been full of warnings about the consequences of watching the eclipse without special safety glasses. Commuters in Accra seemed to have taken note, and along one of the heaving main roads into the city centre people hung out the windows of clapped-out minibuses or gathered in suits and ties in front of offices to try out their glasses. Sharing was widespread, as each pair retailed for up to 15,000 cedis (£1), a huge amount of money in a country where the average person doesn't earn that much in a day.

The British Council held an eclipse-viewing breakfast for the public, handing out 1,500 pairs of free solar safety glasses along with cups of shockingly sweet iced cocoa. As the light began to fade, everyone rushed into the Council's garden for a look. Shouts went up at the moment the moon completely covered the sun, and for just over two minutes of total eclipse we were free to take off the safety glasses and observe the hazy ring of light around the moon. Birds rushed for their nests and the stars were visible in the strange sudden darkness.

Some people, though, enjoyed the event on a whole different level. Locals traditionally think of the moon as feminine and the sun as masculine. As one Ghanaian woman jokingly explained: "It's the first time a woman has completely conquered a man."